Page 135 of The Last Hope

“She kidnapped my daughter and said she’d kill her if… if I didn’t detonate the bomb the moment I saw Madame Selina. Please, she’s only four years old !”

The woman’s sobs grew more frantic, but all I could hear was the buzzing in my ears.

A bomb. For Selina.

“Madame Selina knows me,” the woman continued. “I was a maid at the villa she lived in with Mr. Rasili in Rome. My name is Sonia. Please, I need to save my daughter !”

“How did Alia know where we were ? How are you tracking Selina ?” I snapped, striding toward her despite my brothers’ protests.

I grabbed the front of her jacket, where the bomb was strapped, and lifted her slightly off the ground. She screamed in pain, sobbing harder.

“I don’t know ! I swear ! She… she was looking at a tablet. It had two red dots showing this location ! But I don’t know how she did it !”

She hiccuped through her tears as Roman and Sasha grabbed me, pulling me back. Two red dots.

“GPS trackers,” Tarik muttered, rubbing his chin. “Maybe in their belongings ?” he looked at me.

I shook my head, “we replaced all their things. That’s impossible.”

Sonia’s sobs grew louder.

“She’s losing too much blood. We need to tend to her wound,” Roman said, moving toward her, quickly examining the bomb strapped to her.

“I’ll handle the bomb and get her to our hospital, and I’ll see if I can find her daughter,” he stated.

Grigori opened his mouth to argue, but Roman cut him off with a knowing smirk, “I’m the only one who can do it, and you know it.”

We didn’t argue—because he was right.

“Be careful,” I muttered, casting one last glance at the now unconscious woman before turning back toward the house.

“I have an idea,” Tarik said as we entered the mansion, quickly running upstairs. Grigori, Sasha, and I headed to the garden, where the rest of our family was waiting.

“Grigori, what’s going on ? Where are Roman and Tarik ?” Elif asked as she approached her husband.

I made my way to Selina, who was watching me with worried eyes, “I’m here,” Tarik called, returning with a small device in hand—it looked like a detector.

“What’s going on, Niko ?” Selina asked, grabbing my hand, her fingers trembling.

“I think I know how the Italians have been tracking you,” Tarik said, stopping beside us as I eyed the device.

“This is a detector designed by the school to locate even the smallest tracking devices. Can I use it on you, Selina ?”

“On… on me ?” she asked, stepping closer to me, confused. And then it hit me. My blood turned to ice.

“You think he implanted a tracker in her body ?” I asked darkly.

Tarik nodded grimly. I clenched my jaw, looking down at my wife.

Fuck.

“Selina…”

“I… okay,” she whispered, taking a step toward Tarik. Her wedding dress trailed behind her. I hated that this day had been tainted by that bastard. Again.

“Raise your arms, please,” Tarik instructed, running the detector over her right hand, then her arm, and finally over her left hand and arm. The device remained silent, and I began to relax as he moved it over her torso and legs.

Finally, he scanned her back. When the detector reached her neck, it let out a piercing beep, and we all froze.

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